At 8 p.m. on April 25, Matt Darrah, the Panhandle Orphan Care Network executive director and an AmeriCorps member, found out that his annual income of $30,000 had been terminated. 

Jan. 20, 10 p.m. “It’s about survival” 

The Code Blue Warming Station is decorated floor to ceiling with a motley art collection that was—like everything else in the shelter—donated piecemeal by Amarillo organizations and individuals. At the front desk, volunteer Sandra Owen is wearing an oversized brown Carhartt jacket to guard against the inside temperature, which is 50 degrees, as well as the 5 degree weather outside.

Since 2019, the skunky, citrusy and oh-so-polarizing smell of marijuana has moved from the realm of late night park benches and that one apartment that smells impossibly strongly of sandalwood, to brick and mortar stores in broad daylight.